Warrants have been issued for the arrest of two South Asian men in the death of a Bhutanese drug mule whose body was dumped in the Khlong Ong Ang canal in Bangkok.
The Criminal Court approved warrants for Tandin Wangchuck, 31, of Bhutan, and Indian national Manoj Kumar Daga, 38.
The two foreigners were charged with colluding to possess and sell illegal drugs, and concealing or destroying a human corpse, Thai media reported on Friday.
However, Pol Lt Gen Sanit Mahathavorn, acting commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said they likely had fled the country already. Authorities were tracking their whereabouts and look into whether any Thais were involved.
The warrants followed the discovery of the body of unidentified man who was found stuffed into a suitcase thrown into the Phra Nakhon district canal on April 3.
Police earlier believed the man was likely an Indian national. They later found the corpse was that of a Bhutanese national, age 46.
National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said on Friday that the dead man was a member of a transnational drug trafficking gang. He had swallowed packs of drugs to smuggle them and died after a packet burst .
The Bhutanese man and his drug gang members had entered the country on March 28. There were eight members, comprising Indian, Bhutanese and Nepalesh nationals, Thai media reported today.
The gang members were believed to have each swallowed between 40-50 small packs of methamphetamines, said Pol Gen Chakthip. Police have identified all the suspected gang members.
Pol Lt Gen Sanit said more warrants would be issued for the remaining suspects.
As an initial investigation showed the gang had made frequent trips to Thailand, he has ordered investigators to trace the gang's past activities to determine when they began their illicit operation and find if any others were involved.
Pol Lt Gen Sanit believes the drugs might have been smuggled from another country and be destined for a third nation in Southeast Asia, Thai media reported.
The Public Health Ministry has been tasked with tracking the origin of the drugs found inside the dead man to find where they were produced, said the acting MPB chief following a meeting with senior police handling the case at Samran Rat police station.
So far, police have interrogated nine witnesses. Two more would be questioned soon.